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3 reasons why Canadiens' Daniel Briere could be traded to Devils

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Montreal Canadiens forward Daniel Briere, celebrating a recent goal with teammates, potentially could be a nice addition to a Devils' club that is among the lowest-scoring NHL teams.
(Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)

MONTREAL - By now, Devils president/GM Lou Lamoriello should be desperate for more offense from a team averaging just 2.3 goals per game. And because the Devils have overcome that enough to stay in the playoff race, maybe it's time to roll the dice to get them in better position by swinging a deal with the Montreal Canadiens for Daniel Briere?

Daniel Briere? The little guy who is 36 years old and not coming close to producing like he did when he was playing for Buffalo and Philly and known as Danny? The guy who has missed games three seasons in a row with concussions? The guy who wouldn't come dirt cheap with a $4 million cap hit for this season and next?

But before even considering going there, Lou needs to see if he could take a chance on Briere providing help for an area of the team that really needs it without weakening another.

Could Briere to the Devils for defenseman Anton Volchenkov be a solution? The Habs, who are in better shape in the standings than Jersey, want to make a long playoff run this season and could use some added veteran grit on their blueline that Volchenkov would provide. Money wise, it would be virtually an even swap, as Volchenkov carries a $4.25 million cap hit through 2015-16. And from the Devils' side, losing Volchenkov makes it a lot easier to get a lot of regular minutes for rookie blueliner Eric Gelinas, a terrific young talent who needs to improve his all-around game but already is a big threat offensively.

Briere to the Devils, for Volchenkov or less in return, isn’t impossible, and Tuesday night could be an audition with Jersey in town for a game against the Habs.

Here are 3 reasons why Briere could wind up in a Devils uniform:

1. UNHAPPY CAMPER
There’s reason to believe that Briere would welcome a change of scenery ASAP because word out of Montreal is players there are not happy with Habs coach Michel Therrien, who apparently could be losing his dressing room. That's happened at least twice before … during his first tour of duty as Habs coach and when he was fired in Pittsburgh a few months before the Penguins won their last Stanley Cup. Therrien benching star defenseman P.K. Subban for the first 10 minutes of the third period last week made a bad situation much worse. As for Briere, he apparently was promised he’d play his natural center position this season and promised he'd be a top 6 forward when signing with Montreal lat summer. Instead, he's played a lot of wing on the Habs' fourth line and three times in a six-game span of late he was a healthy scratch. This development, along with others, has led to Therrien being called a liar in some parts of his dressing room.

2. GOOD FIT
Briere still has a lot of offensive skill despite scoring just seven goals and 13 points in 33 games this season. He showed it scoring two goals and an assist in a recent game against Ottawa. He's creative, he has a good shot and he'll battle bigger players for puck possession, winning his share of them.Yes, he'd be a risk because of his history of concussions, but he's not that far removed scoring 34 goals in 2010-11 and eight goals over 11 playoff games in 2011-12. What Briere could be for the Devils is a legit scoring threat at center. For all that Travis Zajac brings, and there’s no denying this guy is very, very valuable, he’s better suited to be a No. 2 center instead of playing on the top line. Briere can play on the top line on this team, perhaps with Patrik Elias and Damien Brunner when they’re healthy. He could help the Devils power play, currently ranked 19th with three goals in 28 chances over the last 10 games. And if they sneak into the playoffs, he’s at his best there with 109 points in 108 career games, including a league-best 30 over 23 games when Philly went to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.

3. MY THREE SONS
If Briere is sent packing, you can bet your Chico Resch rookie card that Jersey would be his preferred landing spot. Why Jersey? Besides the Devils being able to provide a better opportunity for his career, it's close to his three sons, who are between the ages of 12 and 15 and currently living with his ex 90 minutes south of Newark in Haddonfield, New Jersey, Flyers country. During his final years in Philly, the boys lived half the time with him, but he hasn’t seen them a lot since the Flyers bought out his contract last summer and he signed with the Habs, a team that the Gatineau, Quebec native grew up loving.